Labour councillor quits as maximum tax increase approved at budget meeting
Wakefield Council has voted in favour of budget proposals that include a maximum council tax increase of 4.99 per cent.
A veteran Labour councillor accused his party of “hammering” working people as he publicly announced his resignation in protest over the spending plans.
Steve Tulley also criticised the national government as he revealed his decision to quit after being a Labour member for more than 40 years.
Opposing his group’s budget, he said: “Why would I want to vote for a budget that is making people poorer? I don’t blame my colleagues here.
“We are two years now into this new government and we are still expecting it baked in – 4.99 per cent as if it doesn’t matter.
“I didn’t want to come here today to oppose the party that I have spent all my adult life in.
“But I put the blame where it firmly lies – (Chancellor Rachel) Reeves, other people in national government, let councils down
“There is no reason why our base budgets couldn’t have been increased two years into a government and they have failed to do it.”
Coun Tulley, who has represented South Elmsall and South Kirkby ward for 15 years, described his decision to leave the party as “one of the saddest days of my life.”
Last month, he publicly urged his Labour colleagues to call on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador.
Coun Tulley told the meeting he had been disciplined by the party and told he could no longer stand as a Labour candidate at the local elections on May 7 as a result of the comments.
He added: “I ain’t coming here to keep hammering our people – the working poor as I see them.
“We can’t keep piling more and more costs on top of our people. That’s why I am not going to vote for this budget.
“It probably makes it a little bit easier because, as from half past nine this morning, I aren’t a Labour member, so it doesn’t really make any difference.”
The council tax hike, which includes an addition of two per cent to support social care costs, equates to an annual increase of £89.90 (£1.72 per week) for households in Band D.
Council leaders said the increase was part of efforts to tackle an expected £23.3m shortfall during the next financial year.
The budget also includes making £11.5m of “service efficiencies and savings” across several departments.
An additional £9m will also be spent on on adult social care and £5m on children and young people due to both services facing “record levels” of demand.
A £4.3m fund is to be created to help with the cost of school uniforms and to provide a £100 one-off winter fuel payments for some pensioners
Outlining the budget plans, council leader Denise Jeffery told the meeting: “In May, everyone in our district has a big choice to make.
“An experienced Labour team with a strong track record of delivering for our communities.
“Or the chaos, division, and recklessness of Reform.
“It’s important that we’re really clear today about what it will mean for local people if we take a gamble with our future.
“It will throw away the years of work we’ve done to make sure the council is in a stable financial position.”
Council deputy leader Jack Hemingway said the budget was “rooted in reality, in practical measures, not populism.”
It is the fourth consecutive year that council tax across the district has risen by the maximum permitted amount.
The amount paid by Band D householders in Wakefield remains lowest out of the five West Yorkshire local areas.
An alternative budget put forward by the opposition Unity group, which proposed limiting the council tax increase to 3.5 per cent, was defeated
Other amendments put forward by the group included scrapping two hours’ free parking in council-run car park and using reserves to create a support fund for new business in the district.
Unity group leader Jakob Williamson said: “In a cost of living crisis we can’t accept maximum rises, year on year.
“Squeezing households should be a last resort, not a default.
Liberal Democrat proposals, which included a reduction in council senior management roles, the creation of a new “pothole fund” and a feasibility for a new swimming pool in Knottingley, were also voted down.